Northwestern, Syracuse to Play in Champion Challenge

BALTIMORE— US Lacrosse has announced the teams scheduled to participate in the 2013 Champion® Challenge, a US Lacrosse event at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Jan. 25-27. The U.S. men’s national team will take on Loyola and Notre Dame, while the U.S. women’s national team will play Northwestern and Syracuse.

Now in its eighth year, Champion® Challenge will be the first time that the defending men’s (Loyola) and women’s (Northwestern) NCAA champions both participate. Loyola earned the first NCAA championship in program history with a victory over Maryland, while Northwestern won its seventh national championship in eight years. Both featured games will be televised on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. Syracuse, which fell to Northwestern in the 2012 NCAA championship game, and Notre Dame, which advanced to championship weekend before falling to Loyola in the national semifinals, will also take on the Team USA women and men, respectively.

The defending world champion U.S. men’s national team, which defeated Canada to win the 2010 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship, will bring approximately 45 players to evaluate prior to tryouts for the 2014 U.S. men’s national team, to be held Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2013.

The U.S. women’s national team will carry a 25-player roster for Champion Challenge as it prepares to defend its 2009 FIL World Cup title next summer. The final 18-player roster for the 2013 FIL World Cup, to be held July 11-20 in Oshawa, Ontario, will be announced in early February.

Also participating in the event will be the English and Haudenosaunee women’s national teams, the Jacksonville University men’s team and the Rollins College women’s team.

In addition to playing, both U.S. men’s and women’s national teams will host instructional clinics for youth and high school players in grades 1-12 Saturday, Jan. 26. The U.S. women’s national team coaching staff will also offer a clinic for local coaches to learn "The Team USA Way."

The full event schedule, TV schedule and U.S. men’s and women’s national team rosters are expected to be released in November.

Champion Athleticwear is the official apparel sponsor of the U.S. women’s national teams. deBeer is the official equipment sponsor of the U.S. women’s national teams. Marriott, Nationwide and Shock Doctor are official sponsors of the National Teams Program.